Interlocking joint



WINVENTQR R. R. REW

IITERLOCKING JOINT Filed Feb. 28, 1935 oct. 23, 1934.

Patented Oct. 23, 1934 UNITED STATES 1 Claim.

This invention relates to interlocking joints for road constructions wherein the latter are made in sections to compensate for expansion and construction due to varying temperatures 5 and has for the primary object, lthe provision of a device of the above stated character which will provide a joint between sections of a roadbed so that vehicles may pass thereover with safety and smoothness and which will readily permit the sections to expand and contract due to varying temperatures and prevent breaking or cracking of 'the sections and thereby materially reduce the cost of road maintenance.

With these and other objects in view this invention consists in certai'nnovel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

For a complete understanding of my invention,

reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a sectional view illustratingv a roadbed wherein the sections thereof are connected by a joint constructed in accordance with my invention.

Figure 2 is a sectional view illustrating the joint.

Figure 3 is an end view of one of the sections of the joint.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the numeral 1 indicates a conventional type of roadbed constructed of concrete or any other material suitable for the purpose. The roadbed is constructed in sections, fragmentary portions of a pair of such sections being shown in Figure 1, and the purpose of constructing the roadbed in sections is to allow for expansion and contraction caused by varying temperatures. To provide a smooth joint between the sections, regardless of the amount of expansion and contraction of the sections, my coupling is provided and consists of sections 2 and 3, each consisting of a plate 4 having formed upon one face thereof relatively spaced projections or tongues 5 which are arranged at right angles to the plate and each provided with an opening 6. Openings 'I are arranged in the plates 4 of the sections 2 and 3 of the coupling with an opening 7 positioned between each pair of projections 5 for the material of the roadbed to enter. The plates 4 of the sections 2 and 3 of the coupling have formed thereon anchoring elements 8 of substantially -L-shape adapted to be embedded in the concrete of the sections of the roadbed, as shown m Figure 1 for retaining the sections 2 and 3 of the coupling between the sections of the roadbed. The projections 5 of one section interilt between the projections of the other section to allow the sections of the roadway to move towards and from each other during the roadway. After the sections 2 and 3 of the couplingvhave been applied to the sections of the roadbed, a semi-liquid filler 9 is poured or placed in between the interfitting projections 5. This filler may be of tar or any other material suitable for the purpose and passes through the openings of the projections thereby providing an elastic binder between the sections 2 and 3 of the coupling which will exclude dirt, water and other foreign matter from the coupling.

The free ends of the projections 5 are beveled, as shown at l0, to facilitate the projections moving between each other and also the upper edges of the sections at their free ends are beveled, as shown at 11, to prevent any part of the joint catching into a device which may be dragged or pulled over the surface of the roadway. The beveled part of the frame and upper portion of the teeth are to keep anything dragging over the road from catching therein.

A joint or coupling of the foregoing described construction will eiliciently connect the adjacent ends' of sections of a roadway and allow the sections to readily move relative to each other when expanding and contracting and still present a comparatively smooth surface between the sections of the roadway so as to eliminate unnecessary vibration'to vehicles passing thereover.

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that minor changes in construction, combination and arrangement of parts may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention, as claimed.

Having described the invention, I claim:

A joint comprising plates positioned against adjacent ends of sections of a roadway, L-shaped elements integral Vwith the plates and embedded in the sections of the roadway for anchoring the plates in position, spaced projections on the plates and the projections of one plate fitting between the projections of the other plate, said projections and plates having openings with the openings of the plates arranged between the projections, a yieldable filler positioned between the plates and nlling the spaces between the projections and passing into and through the openings of the projections and plates, said projections having the ends thereof beveled and their upper edges beveled towards the beveled ends to eliminate abrupt corners from being presented by the upper edges of the projections.

ROY R. REW.

50 expansion and contraction of the sections of said 

